The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) has threatened to ask teachers to boycott the supervision and marking of national examinations at the end of the year unless they are paid for services they rendered last year.
They say teachers will disrupt the 2023 KPSEA, KCPE and KCSE that are scheduled for October and November if the Ministry of Education does not pay their dues.
Collins Oyuu, the Secretary General of KNUT, stated that teachers who supervised, invigilated, and graded the Kenya Certificate of Primary (KCPE) and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations have not been paid.
According to reports, the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) has been struggling to pay exam officials due to budgetary constraints since the government funding for national examinations has remained the same despite the number of candidates rising every year.
Oyuu said the government promised to pay teachers for the exercise by the end of July but was yet to honor its pledge.
“We were informed the payment was factored into the budget. We’ve written several letters to KNEC demanding the payments but our request is all in vain.
The best thing to do is to withdraw from being involved in the 2023 exams,” Oyuu said.
Speaking during the union’s annual general meeting for the Suba branch in Homa Bay County, the unionist said teachers also expect the government to address other welfare issues including compensation of teachers after interdiction, increased capitation to schools, and review of Career Progression Guidelines among other issues.
The Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) which will be administered to Grade Six students and KCPE examinations will commence on October 30 and conclude on November 2.
The KCSE examination will be held from November 3 to November 24 and will be graded between November 27 and December 15.
By Thuita Jaswant
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